Associated Teachers TV programme
KS1/2 Science: KS2 Learning with Nicole
Daily Plan
Y6
Science: Life Cycle of Plants - stages of plant
growth
Objectives & Introduction
NC 3a the effect of light, air, water and temperature on plant growth
QCA to consider conditions that might affect germination and plan how to test them
10 Key opening questions about seeds:
What is a seed?
What is in them?
Do all plants make them?
How are seeds dispersed?
What seeds do we (humans) eat?
What seeds do other animals eat?
Will seeds grow anywhere?
What conditions do seeds need to grow?
Where in a food chain would we find seeds?
What is the biggest seed you know of?
Give these questions out, two per table with a variety of seeds or pictures on view.
Children to feed back - teacher (or TA) to collate onto a mind map entitled ''seeds".
Opening Activities
Remind children that once seeds have been dispersed they need to germinate.
1) Use focus group to locate plants (digital camera?) in school grounds (Wednesday). These can be put on
PowerPoint for children to describe what plants were found and what stage the plants are at in their life
cycle. Ask children to suggest
what seeds need in order to germinate and how they could investigate this.
2) Remind children of the need for a fair test and ask them how many seeds they should use in order to
get reliable
evidence. Help children to set up their investigation and ask them to write an account of how they set up
the work.
Discuss children's results with them and relate their findings to seeds germinating in the Spring after the
cold winter.
The Primary Complete Series
St. Mary's (10 User licence)
1
Daily Plan
Science: Life Cycle of Plants - stages of plant
growth
Focus activities:
WILF success criteria (REVIEW AT PLENARY)
 To plan a fair investigation ;
 to find ways of varying the conditions
Introduce the plant – Brassica - a member of the Cabbage Family.
Explain that it is relatively fast growing and can grow from seed to seed in 5 weeks.
Explain that the light table can be used as a source of light AND warmth and that all groups can use it in
today's
investigation. The height to between the seeds and the lights can be changed.
3) Ask groups to determine, using 'post -its' and a master grid pinned to board at front, what decisions
required to design
an investigation into:
The effect of light, air, water and temperature on the growth of the plant. (Learning Objective 1).
Variables -light, water, air, warmth.
Children to determine how to vary each of these by answering the questions, "How can we vary...?"
Each group to feedback on their design ideas.
Ask focus group 1 how to vary amount of light to emerging plants? Give them a range of plant pots and
adapted
cardboard tubes (see *) for them to explore ways of varying light conditions.
Ask focus group 2 how to vary amount of warmth, using equipment provided - to include thermometers,
and a set of
books to vary distance seedling to light/ heat source from light table platform.
Focus groups 1 and 2 to set up their investigations.
Groups 3, 4, 5 to prepare seeds for planting using planting instructions. These groups to vary amount of
water; using the
Outcomes
pipettes.
state that water and warmth are also needed for germination
state that the seeds in the dark germinated as well as those in the light
use several seeds in each set of conditions in order to get reliable results
suggest
suitable factors e.g. light, warmth, water, soil to investigate and how they will carry out a fair test
Resources
of these
Introduction seeds and/ or pictures of seeds
Opening activities 10 questions on strips of paper.
1) list stages of plant growth on flash cards - on display board.
3) master grid (large; A2) ; post -its for each table.
Focus group 1: cardboard tubes with paper taped over an end. Holes of different sizes can be made in to
paper to vary
amounts of light.
Focus group 2: thermometers, stack of dictionaries.
The Primary Complete Series
St. Mary's (10 User licence)
2